We’ll have our review ready for launch day, but in the meantime here’s an exclusive interview with Producer Takashi Morinaka.

Toukiden received an enhanced edition of sorts called “Kiwami”. Will the same happen for Toukiden 2 in the future?

We haven’t announced any additional versions at the moment due to the team being focussed solely on the launch of Toukiden 2.

Toukiden 2’s biggest new feature is probably the open world environment. Was it difficult to make this shift? Can you give us an estimate on how long it would take to cross the entire open world, to get an idea of how big it is?

The first difficulty was coming up with what to do to make it ‘open world’ as the term is open to interpretation, and there were strong opinions within the development team to aim for a similar open world gameplay as featured in AAA titles. In the end, what we aimed for was an ‘open world’ that best works with Toukiden. The map is shown as one continuous landscape and players can feel like they really are setting foot within this world, but we combined this with a system that doesn’t interfere with the ease of playability that we’ve established as a part of the Toukiden series. As a result, I think we have been able to fulfill our aim in this regard. The world is made up of the village, which serves as the player’s base, the surrounding land and six ‘Ages’. It is very hard to define how long it would take to cross the entire open world, due to how many different routes that can be taken through the vast environment.

Other than the open world, what’s in your opinion the single biggest improvement of the game over its predecessor?

The Demon Hand! It’s an enormous hand that appears which can expand and contract, and can quickly close in on Oni or terrain by grabbing onto them. This broadens the action maneuvers; such as allowing weapons that were only effective on land to be used in mid-air attacks. In addition, by repeating the Demon Hand attacks as the enemy performs charge attacks, it is possible to slam enormous Oni into the ground.

What can you tell us about the plot without spoiling it too much? How long will it take to complete the game?

The story begins 10 years in the past during an event known as the Awakening, in which massive numbers of Oni suddenly appeared and destroyed the land. The player is an Oni Slayer in the city of Yokohama. During the battle, the player is attacked by a mysterious Oni and travels through time and space to 10 years in the future, and ends up in Mahoroba Village located far to the west, taking residence in the village after being saved by a female Professor and a Machina known as Tokitsugu. The Professor is researching ruins of an ancient civilisation, and Tokitsugu is a result of those findings. Guided by the Professor, the player becomes embroiled in an epic story that involves the mystery of the appearance of the Oni. The story alone will take over 30 hours to complete.

Are there any major improvements to the online mode that you can share with us?

The online multiplayer provides the familiar gameplay of past Toukiden games, but this time there are missions which will cover broader areas in the Ages. We’ve also expanded the methods of communication between players, with an updated free chat function and the ability to send stamps to one another. We have also introduced new asynchronous online elements, including Joint Operations, where doppelgangers of other Slayers appear and can fight alongside the player, and a Reliquary to send or receive items from other players.

Will there be full cross-play functionality between the PS4, PS Vita and PC (Steam) versions of the game?

Cross-play functionality will be available between PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions of Toukiden 2.

Toukiden: Kiwami launched on Steam to mixed user reviews due to poor performance on PC. Did you take notice of this feedback to improve optimization in Toukiden 2?

Yes, we have taken notice of this and worked to improve upon this. Toukiden 2 has been optimized to run at 60fps on PC.

What resolution and frame rate are you targeting on PS4? What do you think of the PS4 Pro and what kind of enhancements are you planning for it?

PlayStation 4 versions will run at 30fps and 1080p, though we cannot currently reveal the PlayStation 4 Pro features at this time.

Can players expect to see additional updates/DLC after the game’s launch? Would you consider a release on the new Nintendo Switch console?

We’re currently planning to release additional missions where players can earn new weaponry and armor. With regards to the Nintendo Switch, we currently have no plans to release Toukiden 2 on this platform.

A while ago, you released a free-to-play version called United Front in Japan. Will this be available in Western countries, too?

It remains a possibility, but we don’t have any other information at this point.